


Once Bitten

by Snurtlicious



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AND GAY, Beauty and the Beast AU, M/M, Red Riding Hood AU, it's a crossover, keith is red riding hood and the big bad wolf, let's just say keith has a kink for monster shiro, shiro is the beauty and the beast, some gore towards the end but it's not like super graphic, they're both cursed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 23:32:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15230436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snurtlicious/pseuds/Snurtlicious
Summary: After being injured, Keith stumbles upon a castle in a strange forest. Seeking refuge inside, he quickly falls through a rotten floor and into the castle dungeon where he encounters a beautiful white beast. After being bitten and threatened, Keith succumbs to his wounds and is trapped in the castle by the strange monster. The revelation of a curse draws Keith's curiosity and he can't find it within himself to leave without answers.





	Once Bitten

                Keith grunted in pain as he stumbled through the woods, carefully rolling up the tattered right sleeve of his yellowed cotton shirt. He was fairly certain the damned hunters had broken his arm in a few places when the cowards caught him sleeping and attacked. It was no work at all to flee, the humid forest air sticking to his skin as he ran.

                Killing the group of overly aggressive men likely would have been smarter, if anything. Keith felt it was a mercy that they wouldn’t earn from him again if they tried to ambush him while asleep. It apparently wasn’t painful enough to live alone in the forest without the added threat of being killed constantly looming over him.

                His shirt had been ruined by his recent transformation and the slow shift back had left him vulnerable to the cold and weather. The hunters had caught him snoozing in a warm patch of sunlight, the kind that always made Keith a little cozy and drowsy. To his relief, his trousers were still intact, though he’d nearly worn through the heels of his boots from how long he’d used them. Clothing and food weren’t as easily acquired when one was exiled from most places.

                Taking a moment to calm and collect himself, Keith realized he knew not where to run. The parts of the forest he lived in were easily recalled and familiar to the point of knowing exactly where even the smallest plants were. However, the deeper he ventured, the stranger things became. Keith had never strayed too far into the woods, stories from his childhood still lodged in his brain about horrible wolves and terrible monsters keeping him at bay. He found it ironic, after all that time, that he _was_ one of the terrible wolves his father might have waxed poetic about when he was small.

                In his neck of the woods, the trees only reached a certain height with birds dotting their branches. However, the deep woods bore gnarled tree trunks with strangely-shaped leaves and bright white bark. A normal sized tree was certainly tall, but these white trees were almost too tall. In the evening light, the canopy was too high to be discernible from the sky. Not being able to see the stars was unsettling to say the least.

                As his initial shock was wearing off, Keith’s arm ached something fierce and he wanted to find shelter and succumb to the release of sleep. A breeze flew past him carrying the scent of stone and rotting wood. Hope sparked in his chest that maybe an abandoned cabin might lie just ahead. His cherry-colored eyes widened the second the trees parted and his gaze met the towering castle sprawled out across the plains.

                The gray spires scraped the sky, taller than even the trees had become. Keith imagined, once, the castle had been a shining beacon of prosperity with white towers that disappeared into the clouds. However, in such a state of disrepair, the once-impressive castle looked vacant and hollow, collapsing in on itself the way Keith felt when he laid to sleep at night, alone.

                Keith weighed his options. He could sleep in the cold forest and risk the hunters finding his trail, although he had traveled a great distance, or he could seek refuge in the castle and hope that its denizens had long since fled. The latter was the better choice to Keith. He was unfamiliar with those woods and didn’t wish to stir up any ill will amongst the creatures that already lived there.

                He found himself stumbling as he trekked across the overgrown plain, carefully approaching the ruined courtyard. Statues were in various states of decline and any sort of landscaping had long since gone awry, the brambles overtaking the few statues that remained. Keith’s stamina was quickly depleting, the running and injury easily sapping his strength. Keith nearly tripped on the cracked pavement as he came upon the surprisingly intact wooden door that led inside.

                The ornate door had many large scratches that ran deep into its surface, splintering the hardwood. Keith slowly ran his clawed fingers over the grooves, noting that whatever creature caused them was much, much, even frighteningly larger than him, not to mention the raw strength it must have possessed. He hoped it wasn’t still hanging around.

                Keith braced his broken arm against himself as he took a few tentative steps inside, the wooden floor creaking too loudly under his feet. The inside of the castle was somehow worse than the outside, the scent of mildew filling his nose.

                With a chill in the air, he noted that the banners that hung from the rafters were moth-eaten and ragged. Any furniture sat crumbled or in splinters from being destroyed and the sconces sat cold and forgotten. The light that filtered inside came from a hole where the ceiling had bowed under its own weight and collapsed. Being there filled Keith with an ineffable sense of sadness.

                His best-laid-plan was to find some intact furniture and hunker down for a few days to recuperate. Even without food, his supernatural healing would hopefully make his arm at least usable again. That didn’t quite pan out as well as he’d have liked. Keith carefully padded over to the door for the next room and yelped loudly when the floor beneath him finally gave way. The weight of the man was too great for the rotten wood to bear.

                It was a short fall to Keith’s relief, though still enough to fully daze him from the pain in his arm and, now, chest. Keith laid there for a moment to recover before he propped himself up on his good arm, claws rattling quietly on the stone floor. He was surprised to see that he was essentially in a cage, iron bars running from the floor to the now-open ceiling. He figured he must’ve fallen into the castle’s dungeon, though he was glad to see the cell door was still open despite how decomposed the area was.

                Large stones from the basement walls had cracked and fallen down between the cells, even having broken the gates so that whoever was trapped inside could escape, assuming they hadn’t perished by that point.

                Keith stood with a sharp cry, the pain getting the better of him. After all the injuries he’d sustained, Keith wasn’t sure how he was still able to get on his feet. He didn’t hear the shifting of the stones as he approached the cell door, the mold, dust, and pain clouding his normally honed senses. When Keith grasped the door bars to push them further away, he was harshly knocked down onto his haunches.

                With a gasp of pain, Keith returned to his feet. He could almost see the yellowy glow his own eyes gave off as a hulking creature pushed itself inside the cell. Keith’s stomach flipped when the over-sized beast had enough power to bend the bars by touching them.

                Despite his injuries, the wolf in him was prepared to fight to the death if need be. Though when the beast stepped into the dim light, Keith was taken aback. Despite the fangs and muzzle, he was almost… handsome. The beast’s glimmering white fur covered as much of his body as Keith could see, tatters of clothing still clinging to his robust form.

                He stood on two animalistic legs, though his hunched back made it seem like his body nearly weighed too much for them to support. His intense gray eyes matched the stone of the castle, placed above a large red scar across his muzzle where no fur grew. Keith might have stood there admiring him for longer had the beast not attempted to knock him to the floor again.

“W-who are you?” Keith faltered backwards, a mix of fear and irritation filling his chest.

                The beast growled in response, slowly walking over and pressing his muscular arms on Keith’s shoulders in an attempt to push him down. Keith snapped back to his senses the second their skin collided and he unleashed as much wrath as his injured body could muster.

                Keith avoided biting, preferring to use his sharpened claws to deal with most threats if possible. With his one good arm, Keith slashed away to no avail. His onslaught incurred the creature’s ire, previously calm eyes taking on an edged glare. As a last-ditch effort, Keith used his claws to dig into the gashes he’d made to get the creature to back off. The monster did reel back for a short moment only to bring his infuriated maw back down the next and rend his teeth through Keith’s shirt and shoulder.

                “A-ah!” Keith screamed, the cleaving pain echoed through his cracked ribs and broken arm. He’d been bitten before but even that hadn’t hurt quite the way the beast’s fangs had, dozens of small blades piercing his skin at once. Keith was teetering on the edge of consciousness when the teeth slid out and bloodied lips hovered over his throat.

                “Stay, wolf,” the creature ordered, his voice deep and gravelly. Every fiber of Keith’s being wanted to fight back, harder. Yet, his instincts told him that this creature was stronger than him and would kill him if he didn’t submit. In spite of his fear, Keith let his eyes flutter closed and passed out from pain on the cold stone floor. The beautiful beast snarled at his bare throat.

                Keith wasn’t sure how much time had passed when his eyes cracked open. His head swam as he tried to figure out where he was, hubris earning him more wounds and a fever. Sunlight filtered in from the hole in the ceiling but there was no way to know how many days he’d slept through.

                Keith’s disjointed memories weren’t quite coming in right. He could recall running from hunters, a ruined castle, crashing through the floor… a snow-white beast that had bitten him and forced him down?

                Keith winced when he tried to lean up, the pain not as consuming as he remembered. His shirt was gone, the bloodied bite wound patched and his skin wiped clean. Whoever had cared for him had left a glass of water and bowl of meat near the cell door for him, though the iron bars were firmly locked. He was being taken care of while imprisoned.

                Keith picked himself off the floor in his delirium, walking over and firmly grasping the cell bars to see if they had any give. Unfortunately, they were firmly planted into the stone floor and didn’t budge under his more-human grip. As the full moon waned, so did his lupine features. The night the moon didn’t appear, Keith was nothing more than regular human, and that night obviously approached.

                “Let me out!” Keith croaked, his throat dry from days without water. His broken arm had mended enough that he could slam his hands against the bars. They creaked slightly in their mounting, but Keith didn’t possess the brute strength the beast did that bent them with little more than a brush of the hand.

                The blood rushed to his fevered brain and his stomach lurched. Keith fell to his knees as he suppressed the sudden need to vomit. There was nothing in his stomach and he knew the bile would burn his throat if he wasn’t careful.

                “Let me out!” Keith repeated, slamming his hands into the stone. A shock of pain reverberated through his arm. “Please,” he whispered, collapsing into a ball. His fever was worse than he thought and he almost felt like he was hallucinating when the beast crashed back into the room. Stones scraped across the floors and the beast growled as he shoved them out of his path.

                Instead of merely unlocking the cell door, the beast tore it off its hinges, the terrible sound of metal rent from itself burning into Keith’s ears. Keith assumed the beast had locked him inside with no key, knowing that destruction was the only way to release him. The beast crushed the cup and bowl under his paw as he reached down and scooped Keith into his arms.

                Looking into those eyes, Keith didn’t get the same killer instinct he did from animals or other wolves. It almost felt like he was staring into the eyes of another person. His hand came up before his mind could stop it, running through the pale fur at the beast’s cheek.

                “Soft,” he exhaled, the pain crippling his fever-addled brain.

Keith wasn’t sure where the beast carried him to. He was having trouble seeing much from the beast’s arms, the cradling position enough to view his mournful visage. All Keith could say was that they were heading upstairs.

                When the beast sat him down, Keith never expected the embrace of a mattress and warm blanket. In his haze, Keith felt like he was home again. Without much thought, he settled in and returned to a dreamless slumber.

                His fever broke in his sleep, the pain in his chest and arm numbing itself as his werewolf blood mended the wounds. When he opened his eyes next, Keith pushed the surprisingly untorn blanket from his body. A billowing red shirt had been slid onto him, loose enough to hang from his shoulders and show off his muscled cleavage. Keith didn’t mind. The inside was cool without the blanket and the blouse did a surprising job at retaining the warmth from bed.

                Like downstairs, the majority of the furniture in the bedroom was ruined, shards of wood worn by rot and time. The only window was boarded up with the green doors of the broken wardrobe that sat in the corner. The purple rug had claw marks torn through it.

                The bed was the single real piece of furniture that seemed to be intact. Even the mattress had seen better days, despite the comfort it still offered Keith. There was a huge indent in it, likely from where the beast hunkered down on it.

                The beast, Keith remembered suddenly.

                Keith rushed to the door and tossed it open, staring down the spiral staircase before him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to escape or express his gratitude, but he knew running away would severely lessen the chance that he would be injured again or die. His bare feet skidded down the staircase, hands sliding across the wall of the narrow corridor to keep his balance.

                Daylight pierced through a crack in the wall as he reached the bottom and his progress was instantly halted. Keith found himself at a tower, but separated from the main castle. A broken stone bridge connected the two, though Keith knew it would be impossible to clear the gap in his current state. Glancing over the edge, a questionable drop met his gaze. There was no way out that wouldn’t involve more grievous wounds than he had already incurred.

                Keith growled, suddenly scared of why the beast was keeping him there. What good was one wolf to a beast strong enough to rend steel in twain? As if he had heard Keith awaken, the beast stepped from the corridor on the other side of the bridge. His imposing form made Keith involuntarily flinch a step backwards.

                “Why won’t you let me go?” Keith shouted, his fangs having receded back into molars and incisors; flat, nonthreatening teeth that had little ability to pierce through flesh when needed. His ability to attack or bare any real threat had passed for at least a couple of weeks.

                The beast said nothing, rearing back and effortlessly leaping the gap between the tower and castle close. Something about it made the beast look graceful when he landed.

Keith stumbled back again, fight or flight too conflicted to choose so Keith froze instead. His red eyes met gray and he panicked, the sensation of the beast’s teeth in his shoulder palpable again.

                A long claw came up to point at Keith’s shoulder. “You’re hurt,” the beast growled. “Sleep and heal.” His other hand revealed a cloth bundle, tied close with a neat knot. The beast lobbed it towards Keith, not coming any closer.

                “I want to leave, I can take care of myself,” Keith argued, effortlessly catching the parcel. It wasn’t a totally true statement. Keith had learned time and time again that he was bad at rustling up grub when he really needed it, not to mention clothes or shelter. Perhaps he needed to swallow his pride and take the offer of a roof and food.

                “No,” the beast spat. “Rest. You can leave when you’re well.”

                Keith’s irritation came to a head again. “What even are you?” He wasn’t sure what to expect from an answer. The beast could’ve been any manner of creature, even one that Keith hadn’t heard of before. The beast’s eyes gained that edge again and Keith felt the ghost of his tail tuck between his legs.

                “A monster.” He turned away and cleared the gap before Keith could react, disappearing into the castle.

                “Wait!” Keith shouted, frustrated he was still stranded. He grumbled to himself and turned to head back up to the bedroom. In spite of how he detested it, Keith couldn’t help but imagine that was what being a prince in a storybook was like. Locked in a tower, trapped by a beast, and helpless to determine his own fate. It was _almost_ romantic… and a little dumb.

                Those thoughts led him back to the bed where he unwrapped the food the beast had brought him. The swathe of blue fabric held some sort of seared meat, gruel, and a corked flask of what he assumed was water. Keith tentatively picked at the food, though his stomach practically roared when the meat met his palate. If the new moon hadn’t despawned his tail, it would’ve been beating down the side of the bed over how good it tasted. If he was truly a monster, how could the beast make cooked meat taste so good?

                The gruel was also sweetened with some kind of syrup, thick and clinging to his tongue as he laid back. The water was in another league entirely. In the forest, the only real source of water was a lake that humans used to catch fish. His visits were mostly at night, a stolen mouthful of algae-filled water here and there to sustain him. Humans frequented the area and he never had fun speaking with them unless it was the night of the new moon and he could blend in without worry.

                Now full, Keith tossed and turned in the bed as he tried to plot his next move. Ideally, there was some way to escape. Sliding back onto his feet, Keith padded over and pulled the wardrobe doors from the windowsill. The glass had been broken out long ago, but the breeze was enough to air out some of the mildew smell from inside.

                He planned to tie the blanket to the bedpost and shimmy down, though that was clearly impossible. The blanket couldn’t even reach the window from the bed and the wooden frame was far too heavy for Keith to move on his own. His other plan, building a ladder from the furniture, was also too stupid. The rotten wood would never be able to hold that much weight. As much as he hated it, he was imprisoned like some exotic bird.

                Days passed in much the same way. Keith spent his time languishing in the tower, concocting useless plans to escape with each meal provided by the beast. His arm and chest healed and he almost felt like he had gained some weight while he rested.

                Keith attempted to plead with his captor, asking as many questions as he could think of. The beast rarely gave him more than a few words in reply at a time. Keith’s patience wore thin and he finally created a perfect plan that couldn’t, in any way, fail.

                The beast leapt across the shattered bridge as usual, dropping a cloth bundle directly into Keith’s hands. He had apparently grown comfortable enough with Keith’s presence to allow Keith close enough to stroke his delicate fur. When the beast turned to jump back, Keith tossed his arms around as much of the beast’s torso as he could grip.

                His stomach dropped as they crossed the air, the ground suddenly looking much further away than before.

                The beast landed off-center from the added weight and sent the pair tumbling in a heap into the chamber across the bridge. The landing merely stunned him rather than hurting. His brain hadn’t quite registered that he could hop to his feet and run for the first time in more than a week.

                “What are you thinking?” The beast snapped, regaining his bearings before Keith did. He wasted no time pulling Keith up by his armpits and pinning him against the wall.

                “I want to leave! You’ve kept me locked up here for days!” Keith argued back, wriggling in the beast’s unbreakable grasp. He felt like a child being scolded by his parent.

                “You could have fallen to your death!” The beast growled back. The beast this, the beast that, Keith sighed.

                “Do you have a name?” He asked, changing the topic from the possibility of his near-fatality. The creature’s irritation ebbed instantly and he dropped Keith onto his feet with little fanfare. Maybe he’d decided Keith was too stubborn and given up.

                “Shiro,” he replied, padding away. “If you want to run, fine. Don’t tell anyone about this place and I’ll consider that payment for the food.” He said more in the one sentence than Keith had heard him say up to that point combined.

                That was a strange name for a beast, but still better than calling him ‘the beast’ for the rest of their relationship. Keith’s curiosity began overtaking his need to escape, the foolish human side of him jumping out.

                Keith ran after him. “Wait,” he faltered. “I-I should thank you, for the food I mean. Well, you did bite me so maybe we aren’t totally even, but then you bandaged me, but my boots?” Keith wasn’t sure why he was suddenly so wordy or babbling like an idiot to the wide back before him.

                “The boots are gone. You’re better off barefoot than wearing them anyway,” Shiro answered, retreating deeper into the castle than Keith had seen. All around, decorations and furniture sat in various states of destruction and deterioration.

                “Wait! You threw them out? Those were the only shoes I had!” Keith derided, not sure how the pads of his delicate human feet were going to fare in the strange woods. “What happens if I step on a stone while I’m leaving, get a gash, then sepsis, and die? It would be your fault.”

                Shiro sighed, his large chest rising and falling. “For someone that plans to leave, you seem awfully unsure of yourself. I said you can go.”

                Keith paused, letting the conversation lull as they walked and he thought about his feelings. On one hand, he did want to leave, but on the other… someone to talk to was a rare blessing. Too many cold nights alone under the stars had worn Keith’s ability to be alone down to the point where even a beast with the strength of hundred men was a good ally.

                The castle grew more ruined and twisted the deeper he followed, broken decorations turning into hideous caricatures of their original selves. Whatever had happened in the castle had left more than a mark on the beast. When they reached the epicenter of the curiosity, Keith gasped.

                In the middle of the grand hall, a large, glittering crystal pierced through a throne. The shattered gold seat was fully encompassed in a clear, white jewel. It was a portent of some sort, Keith knew, but of what? Keith kicked past the rubble on the cold floor as it sapped all the warmth from his feet. Captured by the gem’s beauty, he approached the encapsulated throne. Without much thought, Keith pressed his hand into the shiny surface.

                The moment his skin met the stone, his wolf claws instantly pierced from the cuticle, blood running down the ends of his mostly human fingers. For the briefest instance, Keith thought he saw his eyes glow yellow in his reflection.

                Keith gripped his wrist with his other hand and reeled back with a groan. That had never happened before when the moon was gone. What was the crystal made of that it brought out his own inner beast?

                “So, you were a wolf after all,” Shiro hissed. “I thought you smelled of it that night, but I assumed I imagined it when I saw you after that. Clever disguises, I should’ve known.”

                “What is that thing?” Keith asked, ignoring the accusation. “Why did it do that?”

                Shiro gestured towards the crystal with his chin. “It’s cursed, I touched it once and it made me like this. Why not take hold of it and become like me too?” He chuckled hollowly, unsettling Keith. If he were to do something like that, would he be the wolf all the time? The thought of not being to at least _appear_ human again weighed on Keith heavily.

                “Why not destroy it? You can tear metal with your hands but you can’t break this?” he demanded, gesturing back towards the cursed stone.

                “I can’t break it,” Shiro snarled back. “Do you think I didn’t try that? It’s a curse that only true love’s kiss can break.”

                Keith scoffed, stomping towards Shiro on the stone floor. “Are we living in a fairy tale? There has to be some other way to break it.”

                Shiro raised a claw to swipe at Keith and then, for whatever reason, stopped himself. Lingering on a moment longer, he swiftly took his leave, paws stamping purposefully out of the room.

                Keith prepared for the blow that never came, figuring he deserved it for running off at the mouth. He knew one swipe from those claws and he would be done for. Keith hesitated to follow as a result, remaining in the tainted throne room for a while longer. A million questions swirled in his mind.

                Something about the way his reflection had twisted into a feral, dark looking version of himself made Keith wonder exactly what the crystal had done to Shiro. Who had he been before such a powerful and destructive curse had been placed on him? Most importantly, what had Shiro done to warrant such an awful curse? What corrupted creature tended to wounds and cooked and tied up meals for a stranger into little pouches? There was something absurdly cute about how Shiro acted that turned Keith’s perception of him on its head.

                Keith knew he needed to apologize as his next move and he padded off in search of Shiro. The twisted castle corridors left Keith unsettled, his hairs on end as he traversed them. He knew the castle was empty, but it still felt as though eyes pierced him from every direction.

                It was a long while of wandering before he caught the flicker of a candle out of the corner of his eye; two large doors open down a hall. Keith approached slowly, hoping to not catch Shiro off-guard and lead him to attack. He was much less durable than metal and doubted he could withstand even a fraction of Shiro’s true strength.

                Keith had to admit his surprise when a small, bent gramophone in the corner quietly played an orchestral piece. Keith knew little about music, but it was pleasant and made him feel at ease as he rounded the corner.

                Books in preserved white shelves ran up every wall, floor to ceiling. None of the glass in the cabinets had been broken, no books sat worn or rotten in the corners. The beast was no monster, not to Keith anymore. There was no way something with that title would have even the slightest want or need for reading.

                “What is this place?” Keith was still in awe. He had read with his father as a child, but the few storybooks he had were nothing compared to the entire library sprawled out before him.

                Shiro jumped in surprise, dropping the book he held onto the table before him. “How did you find me?”

                Keith pointed to his nose. “I’m a good tracker,” he lied. It was just luck that he had trampled down the right way. The scent of paper and ink made him sneeze, the dust from the castle finally getting to him.

                “Why do you look like a human then?” Shiro asked. “You were a wolf before. Can you change your form at will?”

                Keith shook his head, eyes scanning down the spines of the books before him. “Not at all. The moon changes me. When it’s full, the wolf and I are one, but the new moon lets me be myself again.” Keith let his gaze fall onto Shiro, meeting his glare. “I’m cursed too.”

                “Are you in control when you’re fully changed?” He pressed further. Keith was taken aback by the sudden aggression.

                “Not when I was first bitten. All the new sensations and the transformation were overwhelming. It didn’t help that I was also becoming a man at that time so my mood and arousal were erratic,” Keith explained, not quite realizing what he’d said. “Why do you ask?”

                Shiro shook his head and turned back to his book. “How can that be a curse? You can play pretend for at least a week each month. I’ve been here by myself for… ages.”

                 “It’s not that simple,” Keith frowned. “Hunters are always trying to kill me. I’ve lived out in the woods by myself for practically ten years. I get to go into town one time a month for food or clothes and hope that I don’t get caught and skinned alive. At least when I’m a wolf, I have power. I’m strong and I can fight, but being between moons is the worst. I have no strength or instincts. My senses are dull and I feel powerless. At least you can protect yourself all the time.”

                “Dull senses? I thought you ‘tracked’ me here,” Shiro caught his lie. “Who am I protecting myself from? You’re the first person to find this place in ages.”

                “I lied. It was luck,” Keith admitted. “You had to protect yourself from me. An injured werewolf is half-feral in the first place. I was basically running on instinct and I’m sorry for clawing up your shoulder.”

                Shiro’s jaw clenched under his fur. “I’m sorry for biting you. How is the wound healing?”

                Keith pushed the collar of his too-big shirt over and pulled it down so that his muscular shoulder and chest were visible. A pink ring ran across the healthy skin, a second scar from being bitten.

                “All better,” Keith smirked, proud of his strength. “I’ve always been a fast healer.” Keith noticed Shiro’s gaze bounce off his shoulder, trail down to the bit of hair on his chest, and then turn away.

                “O-of course, I am as well,” Shiro stuttered. Keith had a strange feeling as he resituated his shirt, but it fell on deaf ears without his sharper instincts.

                “What were you reading?” Keith strutted over to the table, suddenly more confident now that they had mutually decided not to kill each other.

                “A story,” Shiro replied vaguely. Keith sidled up next to Shiro, the book held right at Keith’s eye level for Shiro to look down on. Standing so close to him, Keith realized exactly how different their heights were. Shiro’s voice was deep, his hands were huge, his chest wide, his muscles so heavy… Keith shook it off, not questioning that Shiro would be the victor in an all-out brawl.

                Keith slipped his hand onto the light blue cover of the book and flipped it forwards, the words ‘Sleeping Beauty’ scrawled across the cover in a golden cursive. It wasn’t a story that Keith was familiar with. “What is it about?”

                “A prince was offered three gifts from fairies at his birth, but was cursed by the fourth to fall into an everlasting slumber on his sixteenth birthday. His parents deceived him of his identity and tossed him to the woods to live with the three fairies to protect him. While he was in the woods, the prince stumbled upon an outsider that made the prince’s heart pound and the two easily fell in love,” he sighed, pausing enough to make Keith’s heart ache.

                “When his birthday arrived, the curse rang true and the prince fell into a sleep that cursed his entire kingdom. Everyone became victim to a rest without end. When the outsider finally found the prince in the tallest tower of the castle, he slayed the evil fairy and woke the prince and his kingdom with true love’s kiss. At the end of the story, the two were married and lived happily ever after.” Shiro sat the book back on the table. Keith noted the cover had a claw marks worn into its surface.

                “How many times have you read that?” Keith asked, running his fingertips over the grooves.

                “Too many, probably,” Shiro sighed. “Enough to have given up hope.”

                Keith figured that was why he expected true love’s kiss to break his curse. Magic was wildly dangerous and Keith knew better than to trifle with it, but enough strangeness existed in their world for Keith to believe.

                “Then I suppose you’ll have to make me fall in love with you,” Keith said. “That seems like the best plan to me.”

                Shiro babbled for a moment, reeling back. “Are you an idiot?”

                Keith laughed. “Probably, you should try it sometime. Being alone isn’t fun anyway.”

                Keith turned on his heel and ran out of the room, wondering if he could get Shiro to chase after him. It was like a foolish game he’d played with the others as a kid. What he didn’t anticipate was the gallop that Shiro achieved was much faster than Keith’s jog and the beast sped past him in the corridor. It almost sounded like a horse racing by.

                “That’s not fair!” Keith called breathlessly. His stamina was markedly decreased as a human, but it was still fun to feel the blood pumping through his body. Keith found himself back in a relatively normal area of the castle, weaving through the broken furniture and attempting to discern where Shiro had gone off to.

                Even without supernatural senses, Keith could easily hear the pots and pans clanging into each other as he wandered downstairs and into the kitchen. Another room relatively well-maintained, the kitchen was drenched in the scent of cooking meat and Keith’s mouth watered as he slid onto a bar-stool at the counter. The iron furnace roared in the corner as Shiro tossed another white log into its flaming maw. 

                “How did you learn to cook?” Keith asked, his stomach growling as well.

                Shiro turned around, towering over the tools he was using. Despite his big, meaty claws, he had a surprising amount of dexterity. The tying of bandages and knots in lunch bags likely required a certain finesse.

                “I’m not great at it, but you learn to take care of yourself when you’re on your own,” he brushed it off, tossing a handful of something into the simmering pot. Keith observed him pick up and carefully peel some kind of vegetable before throwing it in as well.

                “Could’ve fooled me,” he joked. “It looks like you know exactly what you’re doing.” He had a hard time imagining it was early in Shiro’s learning to cook. “The most I can make is charred meat, maybe steal some fruits or vegetables during the harvest.”

                “Some fruit grow in the forest, but I normally don’t stray too far away. Where would I go if I didn’t have here?” Shiro leaned against the wall.

                “Where did everyone else go? A castle this big can’t have one resident,” Keith rationalized. “Did you chase them off and set up here?”

                Shiro scoffed and shook his head. “No, they all fled when the curse hit. Some of them were also cursed, but they became true animals and ran off. Everything changed after that and I was left alone.”

                “Why…” Keith caught himself. It wasn’t right to ask so many questions at once. Even he had things to hide, after all. “Never mind, you don’t have to tell me now.”

                “That’s fine with me,” Shiro turned back to stir the pot again. “I made stew if you’re up to eat it. I’ve no bread or wine anything to go with it, though.”

                Keith stuck his tongue out. “Wine is gross, anyway.”

                Shiro chuckled, a sound not unlike a growl, though Keith didn’t feel the need to spring into fight mode. The two had eased into some sort of easy friendship, perhaps a little flirtatious for their first real interactions together.

                That was the first night they sat and ate together but not the last. The days the two spent together passed like an arrow into flesh, quick and easy and not entirely without pain. Keith was open to talking about his father, how he had left him behind after being bitten to keep them both from being killed by hunters. On rainy days, the bite wound still made Keith’s hip hurt.

                Shiro spoke little about the curse beyond what he’d already said. It made him a monster. The other denizens of the castle had fled or also been cursed. He was alone for years. Keith didn’t press it out of consideration for Shiro’s feelings, though he was secretly dying to know the truth.

                As the new moon came and went, Keith’s wolf form began to show more and more. One night he’d gone to sleep no hairier than a normal young man, and the next he was covered in thick, black fur. His ears had regained their point and fuzz and his tail hung down from his lower back as bushy as ever. His claws and fangs weren’t quite at their full sharpness but it was a process as the moon waxed and the strength of the curse grew.

                Keith was excited to show off how strong he was becoming to Shiro, jumping across the gap between his room and the castle on his own for the first time. The claws on his feet dug into the stone with a satisfying screech as he landed. It was exhilarating to flaunt his true nature without fear of retribution. Shiro lightly scratched behind Keith’s ear when he landed, the demonstration earning him a soft look.

                During that span, they hadn’t mentioned how Keith said Shiro should fall in love with him, but their interactions remained peppered with loaded statements. Some were offhandedly sexual and mostly dealt with stolen glimpses at muscled chests and arms, but more were sweet compliments about the size of said muscles, softness of fur, or the blazing glitter of eyes over the light of a candle.

                Deviating from their normal routine, Shiro dragged Keith to a new part of the castle after dinner. A door that had once been blocked by a sheet of stone from the roof had been torn off its hinges and a crumbling ballroom sat beyond. The plaster of the ceiling had cracked, the mural emblazoned on its surface faded and moldy. Shiro padded ahead as Keith gazed on. Gilded balconies framed the room, the far wall practically nothing but glass that was mostly intact. A few breaks ran across its panes, but it hadn’t quite been opened to the elements entirely.

                Keith jumped at the sharp sound of static before music filled the chamber. “What are you up to?” Keith questioned to Shiro as he approached.

                “Can I ask you for a dance?” Shiro requested, one hand reaching for Keith with the other tucked behind his back. He was suddenly so regal that Keith couldn’t help but blush.

                “You can dance too?” He mumbled, taking the beast’s hand. Keith felt awkward as he followed Shiro, not entirely sure what to do. Dancing was something he’d never tried before, though Shiro looked more practiced than any layman could be. It was assuredly not something he had taught himself.

                “I learned as a child,” he explained, rhythmically stepping across the floor. “This was the dance my father taught me. I was supposed to do it on the night of my wedding, the first dance with my bride.”

                That sort of suggestion was nearly regular at that point. The passes at each other had gone from passing compliments to blatant, indisputable shows of affection. Keith half-heartedly joked to himself about how he could feel true love’s kiss bubbling on his lips.

                “Who was your father?” Keith replied, figuring Shiro was on the verge of some major admission. Where else could a conversation about family go?

                “Keith,” he sighed, twirling the smaller man carefully to ensure he didn’t trip.

                “Once, long ago, I was a prince,” He began. “My father was a king, though my mother passed when I was young. My father was eager to marry me off to the princess of a neighboring land that was famous for its enchantments and power. Our kingdom had been overrun by feral wolves that constantly attacked and made the fringes of my nation unlivable.” Shiro’s expression grew stern.

                Keith suddenly didn’t feel like dancing anymore, but he let Shiro continue to lead him through the motions. “When the queen arrived with her daughter and son, everything appeared fine. I didn’t quite get along with the princess well. Yet, my father expected that we’d wed even if we weren’t interested in each other. Days before our wedding ceremony, the queen’s son wandered outside at night and was slain immediately.” Shiro shook his head and glanced out the windows.

                 “It happened so quickly that the queen’s sorcery wasn’t able to undo the damage and he died. The queen was so enraged that she murdered my father and used her sorcery to curse the entire kingdom. We would take the form of our inner beasts and become wild, feral creatures. My punishment for failing to save him was that my mind would remain while my body became this.”

                In the middle of the room, Keith stopped moving. His gaze fell to the cracked tiles while his thoughts raced.

                “My father told me a story like that once, ‘The White Prince’. It was the only story he ever told me that stopped before the prince reached his happily ever after,” Keith murmured.

                “What happened at the end?” Shiro asked, his hands finding Keith’s shoulders.

                “The transformed prince was found deep in his castle and slain by hunters that feared his bestial form.” Keith let his head fall forward into Shiro’s chest, suddenly startled by a loud banging noise across the castle. As much as he could hear through the music, Keith swore it sounded like people.

                “What was that?” Shiro stomped over and pulled the needle from the record. “How did they find this place?”

                Keith growled under his breath, his anger at having led the hunters there directed at himself. “It’s my fault, they must have followed my trail. My arm was broken and I was scared and I…”

                “It’s okay, Keith, I know you must have been afraid of them,” Shiro whispered, the deep tone of his voice echoing in Keith’s ears. One of Shiro’s clawed fingers came to rest on Keith’s cheek.

                “I won’t let them hurt you, Shiro. I’ll protect you,” Keith promised. “We should try hiding first, though. We may not even need to fight if we can evade them.”

                Shiro agreed and the two retreated into the upper levels of the castle as quietly as possible. Before Keith noticed, he realized that Shiro was leading him forward by the hand, their fingers as laced together as Keith’s could be in a hand so utterly larger than his own. At the end of the path, Keith found himself face to face with the crystalized throne. The ominous warning echoed in the back of his head again and Keith found himself antsy at the thought of true love’s kiss.

                It was certainly true that their interactions were tinged with a certain romance, but they hadn’t kissed before. Part of Keith knew it wouldn’t work with the first kiss, but then what was the point of kissing if not to break the curse? Keith was broken out of his reverie by the sound of a board breaking in the distance.

                It was the hunters after all. There was no doubt in his mind that they would find them eventually. They were ruthless trackers and absolutely unrelenting in their approach. A surefire way to stave them off would be to disappear into the woods, but Shiro had said it himself: where would he go if he didn’t have the castle? A beast that large would never remain hidden for too long.

                “Shiro, we’re going to have to fight,” Keith felt his blood begin pumping. His transformation spurred itself forward in spite of the full moon being a week away. The sense of danger and the impending fight left his fur bristled, red eyes wide and alight.

                “Keith,” Shiro stammered. “I’ve never fought anyone or killed! I know I look like this but I…”

                Keith’s head shot like a bolt of lightning in Shiro’s direction. “I said I’ll protect you and I will, trust me.”

                The pair waited for the better part of an hour before the hunters began moving upstairs and fanning out. From what Keith could tell, it was a group of no more than eight men. Silver clanked somewhere on their persons and the scent of gunpowder was detectable from there. Even if Keith died there, he wouldn’t allow them to hurt Shiro.

                Positioning himself near the entrance to the hall, Keith waited to pounce the moment the intruders entered. Shiro had taken a spot in the back, tucked away behind a stone pillar as to not draw enemy notice. Keith didn’t want to make Shiro fight if he felt like he couldn’t.

                The instant the door squeaked open, Keith sprang into action, claws tearing at the back of the first unlucky man. After dealing some damage, Keith scooted off and ran a few paces. One pathetic man was subdued, though not killed.

                “Leave this place while I let you keep your heads!” He snarled, leaping back towards them with fangs bared. Keith never bit, not wanting to pass on his curse. His claws dug into another man’s side, the sharp nails easily slicing into the tender flesh. He heard the cock of a gun next to him and Keith danced back a few steps, anticipating the fire.

                Time slowed as his instincts honed and he dodged the silver bullets. He had been so focused on the one marksman that he hadn’t noticed the second. Keith took a confident step forward and was blasted back, a bullet piercing his side. Pain exploded in his hip and Keith loosed a strangled howl, the sound filling the chamber with his agony.

                “Keith!” Shiro shouted, revealing himself from his hiding place. Keith stumbled away from the men, hand clutching the wound as it gushed blood. He wouldn’t be able to heal from that type of wound easily, even as healthy as he had become. Silver was like wolfsbane, poisonous and repellant to wolves.

                “No! Get back, don’t let them see you!” Keith ordered, trying to get towards the back of the room to keep the hunters from placing their aim on Shiro. His body was going into shock, the anxiety of Shiro being seen, the bloody gunshot, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Keith tripped over a broken lamp and staggered into the crystal, his chest colliding with its cool, clear surface.

                Shiro shouted something that didn’t reach Keith’s head.

                At once, his mind blanked. All he could think was that he needed to live, fight, kill, kill, kill the hunters before they could kill him. With animalistic fury, Keith picked himself up and rocketed across the hall in a single bound.

                Before the first hunter could react, Keith’s claws stabbed his throat, nails cutting through the skin with a single stroke. The next hunter fell equally as fast as the first, the second gunshot not even registering as Keith gnashed into the gunner’s shoulder with his fangs. The tang of iron served to spur his murderous rampage on. More necks were sliced, arms and hands bitten practically off as Keith sheared through the group of hunters with no remorse or human thoughts in his head.

                Shiro watched from the back of the room, utterly frozen. The sight of a feral werewolf filled his heart with fear, unresolved anger, and grief. If it wasn’t for a wolf like that, Shiro would have lived his life as married prince, albeit unhappily, with a family and country to run. His pampered life of excess mightn’t have needed end.

                Shiro revealed himself as the last hunter fell with a blood-curdling scream, his body lifeless before it struck the floor.

                “Keith,” Shiro called tentatively, unsure what his mental state would be like after directly contacting the cursed gem.

                Keith’s head whipped back, eyes pure, glowing yellow. Shiro flinched, knowing Keith was as good as gone. The curse had destroyed the human part of him that was left inside. Without prompting, tears began to pour from Shiro’s eyes.

                Love lost was worse than having never loved at all, he felt in that moment. Even if they hadn’t quite reached true love yet, Keith was irreplaceable to him.

                Unable to discern friend or foe, Keith pounced onto Shiro’s side and bit down with as much force as his jaws could muster. Shiro roared in pain, grabbing Keith’s torso and tossing him several yards away. Keith spun in midair and landed on his feet, regarding Shiro coldly with thirst for blood in his gaze. He seemed to not notice he was practically bleeding out from the two gunshot wounds. His shirt was drenched in blood and his fur was matted down with it.

                “Please, stop,” Shiro begged, blood staining his white fur as it dripped from his shoulder in nearly the same spot he’d bitten Keith. The feral creature showed no hesitation as he leapt again, claws raised, mouth open, and Shiro caught him. The gunshots Keith suffered would no doubt kill him if Shiro didn’t bandage them soon.

                Shiro wrapped Keith tightly in his arms and squeezed. Keith yelped in pain, trying to push his way out of Shiro’s grip to no avail. There was nothing left for Keith to do except succumb to the pain and lack of air, then pass out in Shiro’s arms.

                With his eyes closed, Keith felt like his thoughts were being forced through molasses. He was trying to push past the block, but it was so easy to simply lay back and let his instincts rule him. The only thing he had to worry about was…

_Shiro._

                Shiro wasted no time dragging Keith back to the kitchen. Carefully removing the two bullets from his chest and arm, Shiro sterilized the wounds with a shot of alcohol and bandaged them tightly to prevent him from bleeding out. Not sure what else to do at that point, Shiro mournfully took Keith to the dungeon and locked him within the last intact cell.

                The sight of the one he cared so deeply for in such a pathetic shape made Shiro’s heart ring out in despair. He couldn’t remember feeling quite so alone before Keith broke into his life, but the weight of knowing what he was missing was too much to bear.

                Keith, unsurprisingly, didn’t awaken until a few days later. He seemed less inclined to instantly attack, but the blank glowing eyes assured Shiro that he wasn’t the same any longer. In spite of that, Shiro tended to him the same as before, a flask of water and meat through the cell bars.

                Keith still didn’t take too kindly to being locked up, not sure how to open the flask though he devoured the meat with as much vigor as before. Shiro ended up bringing him bowls of water instead of bottles, hoping that would ameliorate the problem.

                As the full moon came and went, Shiro suddenly sparked a hope that maybe as the new moon approached, the wolf within him might wane and the true Keith would spring forth. However, with the curse from the crystal in place, Shiro wasn’t sure how it would work. What would happen with the interaction of magic? It was logical to him that the more powerful curse would win, but perhaps it was additive?

                In fact, Shiro had noticed a strange feeling as he wiled the hours away in books. Certain doorways almost looked higher than before and he nearly missed when he jumped between the castle and his tower. After a week or so, he had to stop sleeping in the tower completely. He had shrunken to the point that he couldn’t confidently cover the gap.

                What had happened when Keith touched the crystal to spur on such a sudden transformation for Shiro? They hadn’t shared true love’s kiss so how could the curse be waning? Shiro returned to the dungeon for an answer and to gauge Keith’s condition, though little had changed.

                He was still bestial. With the big claws and fangs he sported, it made Shiro almost a little nervous in his weakened state. If Keith were to somehow escape, Shiro wasn’t sure he could successfully fend him off.

                Two weeks slid by slowly and, when Shiro woke up, he screamed. His fur, muzzle, tail, fangs, and claws were gone. Besides the grizzled hair on his head, Shiro felt like he was virtually indistinguishable from a human again. Glancing outside, Shiro noted the drizzle and that his shoulder felt strangely sore. Keith’s bite had healed but a joint pain remained. Shiro was certain, then, that the new moon would change Keith back.

                It felt odd to Shiro to be wearing clothing. Before, he had worn enough to protect his more sensitive parts, but the lack of fur made the castle feel too cold to walk about in nothing more than a loincloth.

                Filled with a sense of excitement as the days leading to new moon passed, Shiro prepared the ingredients for full dinner to share between himself and Keith. He also ran around to clean up the ballroom a little more as well. Shiro wondered if maybe Keith would want to read afterwards or spend time listening to music? What would the two do together with Shiro as a human and Keith by his side?

                In brown trousers and a yellow shirt that had once been white, Shiro ran down the stairs to the dungeon, eager to see if Keith had regained any sense of his former self. To his pleasure, Keith stood in front of the bars as a normal human might have.

                “Keith, it’s me,” Shiro said, the grit gone from his voice. It had regained a smooth tone that tickled Keith’s ears with familiarity.

                The solid yellow eyes glanced in Shiro’s direction, ears quirking up and down as he spoke. “B-but, tonight is the new moon! Why didn’t you come back to me?” Shiro brought his hand up to cover his mouth as a sob escaped before he could stop it. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

                Shiro was at his wit’s end. If Keith hadn’t returned to normal when the new moon rose, then the only way to break the curse was true love’s kiss. Shiro steeled himself as he retrieved the cell’s rusty key from a hook on the wall, knowing that he had the singular chance to right the wrong. If Keith didn’t feel the same as he did, there would be no reason to continue living anyway.

                The key clunked softly as the mechanism turned and the door squealed open. Keith crouched, bearing his fangs as Shiro stepped inside.

                “Shh, it’s me, Keith,” Shiro whispered.

                Keith’s mouth closed, as if he recognized Shiro’s voice. He still clearly regarded Shiro warily as he approached. Not watching the floor, Shiro stubbed his toe on a stone and grunted. Keith instantly tackled Shiro to the floor.  The red blouse had been discarded after the hunters’ murder, but the fur made it difficult to tell gauge the state of his wounds.

                “Keith, please,” Shiro begged. The wolf snarled over Shiro’s face, arms pinning his shoulders to the floor. “I love you.”

                In the brief instance that Keith recoiled, Shiro grabbed the back of Keith’s head and pulled their mouths together. Shiro could’ve sworn he heard a gunshot in the distance and he felt a familiar tightness in his chest release.

                Keith didn’t move for a long minute. It felt like one instant, he was all fangs and claws, snarling and rage, and then he found peace. The molasses around his thoughts melted and the first image that surfaced was of Shiro.

                Keith’s vision blurred and he blinked it away. His eyes opened to the sight of a beautiful man with snow white hair, staring back at him.

                “Sh-Shiro?” Keith stammered, his dry throat croaking the words out. “Is that you?” Keith’s claws retreated, the rest of his lupine features following suit. In a matter of seconds, Keith appeared to be nothing more than a human sitting on top of another man.

                Shiro brought one of his hands up to cover his eyes. “It worked, thank the gods, it worked,” he wept.

                “What happened? Why are you a human now? Where are we?” Keith glanced around the cell, unsure why they were suddenly in the dungeon. Hadn’t they just been in the throne room?

                “It’s been more than a month, Keith, you’ve been asleep,” Shiro explained the best way he could. “The hunters knocked you into the crystal and you succumbed to the curse. I brought you down here, but you weren’t the same when you woke up. I hoped the new moon would bring you back to your senses, but it didn’t work. I thought I lost you.”

                Keith couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d fallen to the beast curse? He had felt slow in the head, but it had truly been weeks passing?

                “If the new moon didn’t bring me back then…” Keith trailed off, true love’s kiss ringing through his head. Keith’s face reddened. “We shared true love’s kiss? You love me?”

                “I do,” Shiro laughed through his tears. “I love you.”

                Keith’s eyes filled with tears and he grabbed the collar of Shiro’s shirt. “I love you, too. I can’t believe you broke the curse. You’re finally free.”

                Shiro leaned up and kissed Keith through his tears. “We did it together, Keith.”

                Keith wiped his eyes with a smile. “I can’t believe how fast you turned back into a human, you’re so handsome,” he chuckled, running his gaze down Shiro’s form. “Wait.” Keith was taken aback.

                “What is it?” Shiro leaned up, suddenly alarmed. Had something gone wrong?

                “When did you have time to get dressed?” Keith asked, tugging collar of his shirt again.

                Shiro hummed. “I’ve been wearing these for days, I’ve spent the last week or so this way. I assumed you had done something.”

                Keith suddenly grimaced, wracking his mind for an answer. He didn’t like what he came up with.

                “Did I… bite you?” He sighed.

                Shiro pulled the collar of his shirt over, revealing the scar from Keith’s fangs. “Just once, but it healed quickly.”

                Keith clutched his face and sighed. “The wolf’s curse is transmitted through bite! That was why I didn’t bite you when we fought here the first night! I never wanted to sire any werewolves so I avoid using my fangs in fights, but I guess my beast side didn’t care about that.”

                Shiro stammered for a long moment. “You don’t mean…”

                “I do,” Keith affirmed. “You’re wolf now, I can tell it’s still inside of me too.”

                “What about true love’s kiss?” Shiro argued, not wanting to believe he’d gone from one beast to another.

                “Not all curses are created equally, I guess. How many fairy tales are about werewolves anyway?” Keith shrugged it off. “It’s not all bad, I promise. I’ll teach you how to be a good wolf.”

                Shiro was still not completely taken with the idea of being a werewolf after having been cursed to live as a beast for… he couldn’t even remember how long it had been.

                “Is being a werewolf difficult?” Shiro asked, thinking it might not be quite so awful with Keith at his side.

                “It was a little weird at first but, like I mentioned before, I was a teenager. My libido was pretty wild and I ended up spending a lot of time frustrated by it,” he explained.

                Shiro blushed at that. “I’m an adult, you don’t think that will happen to me, do you?”

                “I honestly couldn’t say,” Keith replied. “But I’m more than willing to find out. I love you, Shiro, all of you.” It felt good to say.

                Shiro laughed nervously but agreed. “I love you, too. I’m glad I don’t have to be alone anymore.”

                “Me too,” Keith sighed. “It gets cold out there, even in the summer.”

                “Guess I’ll have to teach you how to make a fire… and cook… and bandage a wound,” Shiro joked. “And dance!”

                “Please,” Keith groaned, “no more dancing. I can handle the music, but I feel so foolish trying to keep time with the music.”

                “My father would have called that ‘two left feet’, although I guess it would be ‘two left paws’ in your case,” Shiro teased.

                “Shut up,” Keith shook his head. “It’s time to get out of here, this dungeon gives me the creeps.”

                The two spent days packing, endeavoring to leave the rotting castle as the sun rose over the ivory towers one morning. The blinding white vision seared into Shiro’s mind as they disappeared into the woods. With Keith at his side, the two beasts returned to the forest where they lived happily ever after… at least until the next full moon approached.

                The last thing Keith expected was for Shiro to regain the form of the white beast. As before, Shiro towered a few feet above Keith again. Keith would’ve thought it was a problem until Shiro pushed him down, the exact result Keith had expected all along.

                Suffice to say, it was a happily-ever-after that Keith wouldn’t find reason to complain about.

**Author's Note:**

> BABEYYYYYYYYYYY
> 
> I spent like 4 days writing this and I'm pretty pleased by how it turned out. Keith ended up being so horny for Shiro and I'm like just a little sorry, but not really 'cause it's funny. I did have a lot of fun mixing the elements of both stories around alongside a little Creative Licensing. I've been really obsessed with the idea of fairytale crossover aus so there might be a few more coming. I've been thinking about a little mermaid-sleeping beauty crossover for Sheith for a while and I've already written at it a little too!
> 
> Please comment if you enjoyed reading! Feedback makes me want to post more!


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